Letters: Del Mar sale, city pay and more

Sale of fairgrounds is off-track

Selling the fairgrounds to the city of Del Mar ranks at the top of dumb state deals. Does anyone believe the $120 million sale price placed in the black hole of the state general fund will make any difference for more than a few weeks?

The current fairgrounds is a well-managed, successful organization that serves people all over the county, including hundreds of youth in various educational programs. The proposed creation of a city-appointed, nonprofit corporation would eventually insure inexperience, incompetent management and a Del Mar-only approach to what is now a countywide service approach.

This is a very bad idea by state Sen. Christine Kehoe and should be defeated.

Chris Baldwin

Point Loma

On May 15, 2009, the U-T printed my letter “Keep fairgrounds off the market,” which warned of this happening.

Again, our political “leaders” in Sacramento have gone against the will of the citizens. This “raid” on the state taxpayers’ assets will only result in the politicians spending the money on whatever they want (maybe pensions and pork?).

Now that the city of Del Mar owns the fairgrounds, officials can sell it to developers. Sounds familiar, doesn’t it?

Bill Ketchum

San Diego

City employees should take pay cut

San Diego’s police and fire services have been told to cut their budgets by 7 percent with other city departments told to cut their budgets by 24 percent if the Proposition D tax increase does not pass (“Police chief: Expect major cuts,” Local, Oct. 7). There is another choice which is not mentioned and is fought by employee unions, which is to ask all city employees to either take a 10 percent pay cut and save all their jobs or see many of them lose their jobs. If they are willing to gamble that it might affect them personally, perhaps common sense would prevail and the tax hike to cover the pensions and benefits won’t be needed.

In this economy, how many of us are willing to gamble on losing our job?

Jack Resnick

La Jolla

Taking umbrage with the tea partyers

I did a double-take while reading Darcy Brandon’s letter (“Who are tea partyers? Proud Americans,” Oct. 7). A selective memory is a real advantage to the tea party movement.

Where was the tea party when Congress passed the prescription-drug package, plunging my country into debt spending (at the time there was an annual budget surplus)? Or when it comes to not paying for two wars? And who insisted on TARP? (A clue: It was passed in October 2008.) And with regard to following the Constitution, there wasn’t a word in protest of rendition, torture, illegal imprisonment, illegal wiretapping, etc.

The letter concludes with an admonishment not to expect the tea party to compromise or cooperate in any way. It will be their way or the highway.

That’s not the democracy that I grew up in. To throw “divine providence” into the issue just amplifies the lack of true understanding the tea party has of “Real America.”

Douglas Evenson

San Diego

Support for Busby

Regarding “Bilbray, Busby: A question of values,” (Editorial, Oct. 1): The U-T should have endorsed Francine Busby because “she’s as clean as a hound’s tooth,” as Ike would have said in his day. Regrettably for him, Brian Bilbray long ago sold whatever “soul” he possessed. I have heard him many times vent his constant carping about illegal immigration to reveal himself as a closet racist, arrogant, condescending and narrow-minded.

Richard Castro

Clairemont

DMV is essential

How dare you call the DMV a “nonessential” state office (“Understanding the budget impasse,” In Depth, Sept. 23). We took in more than $7.5 billion in revenue in 2009. Registering vehicles to specifications and enforcing laws to keep our air clean and the roads safe from drunk drivers is hardly inconsequential. Legally issuing driver’s licenses and identification cards to a gamut of people of different nationalities to ensure our security is hardly insignificant. Our society as we know it would screech to a halt without the DMV.

A lot of the junk we take on a daily basis is enough to make us go crazy. But we bite our lip and plod on. Most of us are very passionate at what we do, firmly convinced of our valuable contribution. Your words were equal to a castration of our morale.

Grace T. Ibarreta

Chula Vista

Is Congress needed?

I have lost all faith that the American Congress can continue to function in the manner it was designed. The political parties have today forfeited their responsible position.

I now support a constitutional amendment that eliminates Congress and goes directly to the citizenry on votable issues. We have the Internet technology in place to do direct government and get rid of a corrupt Congress. This vote can be made secure. The administration can frame the prevailing issue and let the people decide. Perhaps a monthly or bimonthly issue can be placed before the people for determination.

Congressional representatives today place their party power ahead of country, ahead of their constituents. They are too much about funding their campaigns by selling their vote.

I am ready to eliminate a corrupt middleman and bring in real democracy.

David Amstutz

Imperial Beach

Stay the course

It seems that no one really knows the solution to our economic problems. I can’t believe the stupidity of U.S. voters who want to change horses in the middle of the stream instead of giving President Obama’s plan a chance.

Sam Warren

San Diego

The Troubled Asset Relief Program has ended and “only” cost $50 billion of the $700 billion allotted by the Bush administration in October 2008. The story “Bank bailout backers getting the boot?” (Oct. 6) says economists believe the bank bailout “may well have averted a second Great Depression.” So in the end, we have a government program that appears to have worked and clearly came in under budget – and that is cause for “throw the bums out”?